DocketNumber： Misc. No. 2022-0100
Judges： Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell
Filed Date： 2/23/2023
Status： Precedential
Modified Date： 2/24/2023
Case 1:22-mc-00100-BAH Document 14 *SEALED* Filed 02/23/23 Page 1 of 32
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
IN RE APPLICATION OF THE NEW YORK
TIMES COMPANY AND CHARLIE Miscellaneous Action No. 22-100 (BAH)
SAVAGE FOR ACCESS TO CERTAIN
DOCKETS, ORDERS, LEGAL BRIEFING, (consolidated with
AND ARGUMENT TRANSCRIPTS Miscellaneous Action No. 22-104)
ANCILLARY TO JANUARY 6 GRAND
JURY PROCEEDINGS Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell
REDACTED VERSION
MEMORANDUM OPINION
The sealing ofjudicial decisions and ancillary judicial records relied on to resolve matters
pending before the Court is anathema, "reflect[ing] the antipathy of a democratic country to the
notion of 'secret law,' inaccessible to those who are governed by that law." In re Leopold to
Unseal Certain Elec. Surveillance Applications & Orders ("Leopold"), 964 F.3d 1121, 1127 (D.C. Cir. 2020). Indeed, "the issuance of public opinions is core to the transparency of the court's decisionmaking process,"id. at 1128
(internal citation omitted), and, as such, is "a fundamental norm of our judicial system: that judges' decisions and their rationales must be available to the public,"id. at 1130
. Public access to judicial records is '"important to maintaining the integrity and legitimacy of an independent Judicial Branch,'"id. at 1127
(quoting MetLife, Inc. v. Fin. Stability Oversight Council,865 F.3d 661
, 663 (D.C. Cir. 2017)), and serves "to produce an informed and enlightened public opinion" as well as "to safeguard against any attempt to employ our courts as instruments of persecution, to promote the search for truth, and to assure confidence in judicial remedies,"id.
The courts have long recognized that the press plays a critical role in facilitating public access and acknowledged that "[o]ne of the demands of a democratic society is that the public should know what goes on in courts by being 1